


Cherub

by orphan_account



Series: Cherub [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, I'll probably add more tags n stuff later, I'm rushing, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2020-02-15 17:39:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18674377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Keith's nothing more than an object for Zarkon's pleasure.Vent fic sort of.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A tick is basically a second, a dobosh is basically a minute, and a quintant is basically a day. Also, pretend central command just has shitty defenses.

Time was strange in the cell. It warped around whatever Keith was in there for. Sometimes it was like he was in there for mere ticks, when he new a punishment was to come. Other times, when being in the cell  _was_ his punishment, it felt like quintants had passed. Today was one of those days where being in the cell felt neither like ticks nor quintants. It was just  _time_. It passed in a way that Keith felt was normal. He wasn't in trouble; in fact, he had been praised the previous quintant for his good behavior. It made a spark of pride well in his chest, knowing that he had pleased his master, his god, his everything. Keith would do anything for Zarkon, whether it be kill or die. 

He laid curled up in the corner of the cell when the door opened, and light streamed into the room. Keith immediately bolted upright, like a dog that had been waiting for their owner to get home.  "Does His Highness wish to see me?" Keith asked eagerly.

However, when his vision cleared after the initial blindingness of the light, he found that the normal sentry wasn't standing in the doorway. It wasn't anyone he recognized. He resembled Keith more than any other Galran. Keith cocked his head to the side, but crawled closer to the intruder, sitting with his legs folded under him in front of the stranger. He was thin and mostly hairless, like Keith himself, though his complexion darker, his height slightly taller. Something about him made something strange in his chest stir, but he pushed that aside, in the hopes that he was being summoned for his master. 

"Oh, my g—Keith?!" the intruder exclaimed.

"Yes?" Keith asked. 

"Keith, I'm—holy shit—I'm here to bring you home. I can't believe—" The intruder cut himself off. He seemed joyous, for a reason unknown to Keith.

Keith narrowed his eyes at the intruder, clearly confused. "But... this is my home," Keith replied, voice uncertain.

Something in the intruder's stormy blue eyes glistened, though Keith couldn't interpret what it was. "Hey, c'mon. I'm getting you out of here." He reached down and held out a hand for Keith to grasp.

Keith looked at it questioningly. "Are we going to see the emperor?" 

"No—" Something in the stranger's expression changed. His voice came out shaky, his eyes watering. "Keith, do you know what he has done to you?" 

"Yes! The emperor has shown be a great deal of mercy and generosity. Has he summoned me?"

"No, we're—" The sound of the blasters going off outside the cell alerted both the intruder's and Keith's attention. "We gotta go." He shoved his hand in front of Keith again, gesturing for him to accept it. Keith only shied away from it. 

"I don't think I understand."

"I'm helping you escape! We gotta go,  _now_!" The urgency in the intruder's voice was clearly evident. 

"E—escape?!" Keith stuttered. His brows furrowed in thought. "I—I can't!" Keith's eyes began to rapidly gaze around the room. "The emperor probably wishes for my presence right now, I can't let him wait, he'll—" Keith shied away from the intruder's second attempt to grab his hand. 

The stranger's expression showed contemplation, then decisiveness. "I am so,  _so_ sorry for this," he said, before he rammed the butt of his blaster into the side of Keith's skull. 

***

Lance didn't get it. He knew what he was walking in to, he knew Keith would be locked up somewhere in poor condition, but what he saw still startled him. Bones protruding from his much too pale skin, dark hair grown long and wild past his shoulders. A deep purple bruise covered one half of his face, and Lance didn't doubt that there were other injuries hidden beneath Keith's standard-issued slave uniform. That wasn't the worst part, though.

It wasn't Keith in that body. Not the fiery, snappy Keith he had once knew. No, this was not much more than an obedient little pet at Zarkon's beck and call. Lance ran through central command, carrying Keith's limp little form. He weighed almost nothing, and Lance had minimal trouble toting him, holding him close to his armored chest. Lance could only hope that he hadn't done much damage to Keith when he struck him. He pushed the thought away, focusing on the mission. He opened a communication link with the other paladins. 

"I got Keith, but... Nevermind, I'll explain it later. Let's get out of here." 

"Roger that," Pidge replied. 

Lance ran towards the bay he had arrived in; it was close-by, as he hadn't had to travel far to find Keith. It was only by chance that he had found him in the first place, a chance Lance was eternally grateful for. He hadn't expected the prison cell to be occupied; he just needed a quick hiding spot from the patrolling sentries. Soon enough, he found himself ducking behind a corner at the bay. Shiro and Hunk were already waiting there, fighting off the sentries as Lance ran towards their escape pod. Pidge managed to roll in just before another wave of sentries surrounded them, and they took off. 

Everyone clambered around Lance as he laid Keith's unconscious form on the ground gently. Lance yanked off his helmet and raked a nervous hand through his hair. "I—he—" Lance shook his head. "That's not Keith." 

Hunk had already knelt beside Keith, examining his breathing. 

"How could that not be Keith? Look at him," Shiro said, gesturing towards the body on the ground. 

Lance shook his head. "I—I—" He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "You'll figure it out when he wakes up."

***

Cold.

Ice cold.

That's what Keith feels as he drifts into consciousness. He hears a sealed door slide open, and he stumbles forward, collapsing on the ground in front of him. He takes a minute to regain his breath, before he feels eyes gouging into the back of his head. "Wh—who's there?!" His voice comes out raspy, not giving off the intimidating effect he had wanted it to. 

"It's us, Keith," a voice replies. It sounds familiar, but Keith can't focus on that. 

The events leading up to his new location suddenly came crashing back, and he bolted upright, breath suddenly coming quicker. His heart hammered in his chest, as he looked around at figures surrounding him, his vision unfocused. "No, n—no! Where am I?!" His eyes focus on a tall, dark form. Keith recognizes him as the intruder that entered his cell earlier. He gazes around rapidly, breath coming short and fast. 

"Allura, he's hyperventilating!"

"I see that!" another voice snapped back. Someone crouched down in front of Keith, but Keith shrieked and backed away. 

"No! No, where's the emperor?! He probably needs me, right now, he's probably sending a sentry looking for me. H—how long have I been gone, I've been gone so long—" 

Keith continued spewing nonsense, as the others in the room looked at each other nervously. Keith's hands began to shake, until one of them found itself against the opposite wrist, and started scratching,  _clawing_ at the skin there, feeling the skin begin to part beneath his nails. 

A strong, large human grabbed his arm and held it away, causing Keith to screech. He began to jerk his head back and forth, until it landed on the hard marble floor, and he started banging the back of his head against it with all his worth. Another human stopped him, holding his head still in their lap, while another human caught hold of his legs. They yelled incoherently at each other, but Keith couldn't pick up a single word in his desperation.

"No! No—" A sob ripped through him as tears began to stream freely down his face. He couldn't let them have him, he was for the emperor and the emperor only. He continued to thrash with everything he had, despite it being clear he stood no match for the other humans. Dobosh after dobosh passed, until it seemed clear they would not give in. Finally, Keith's body began to give out, disuse and malnutrition weakening him. He eventually went limp under their grasp, tears continuing to fall down his face as feeble sobs wracked through him. 

He opened his eyes and let them focus on the figure looming over him, cradling his head. He sniffed, and, in a small, desperate voice, said, "Please return me to the emperor."


	2. Chapter 2

Everyone was treading on eggshells after that fiasco. After he'd stopped crying, he didn't move, speak, or react in any way, just laying limply on the ground. His eyes were half-lidded and had a strange sort of glaze to them. The only sign that proved he was still alive was the slow, almost too slow, rhythm of his breathing and the occasional blink. He didn't show any response when the other paladins tried to bring him out of his daze. Eventually, Shiro toted him over his shoulder to Keith's own room, which hadn't been touched since his disappearance. Shiro set him on the bed, and they decided they'd take turns keeping watch over him. 

Shiro volunteered to go first, sitting at the foot of the bed and watching Keith as the boy eventually succumbed to slumber. 

"I'm sorry, Keith," Shiro mumbled, swallowing hard. He was too stony and tough to shed any tears, his time with the galra shaping him into that. But... something about the sight of Keith had his eyes burning, his throat threatening to close up on him. "I should have been there, I should have gotten there sooner, I—" A silent sob cut Shiro off. He straightened, trying in vain to regain his composure. 

He watched Keith for a while, until he stirred. 

Shiro didn't catch onto his distress at first. He didn't notice the slow but rising speed of Keith's breathing, the way he started to shake, until he heard Keith whimper. His attention was drawn from his self-hating thoughts, as he looked down at Keith. 

His eyebrows were furrowed slightly in a frown, his lips all scrunched up. He started mumbling something incoherent to Shiro, fast and slurred. 

It didn't take long for Shiro to realize he was saying an incantation he had memorized. A prayer. His voice had picked up to just barely above a whisper, as he curled in on himself, hands reaching for his hair, and  _pulling_. It was light at first, but then strands of hair were pulled away from Keith's head, then chunks of it. 

Shiro chose then to act, grabbing Keith's wrists and pulling them away as gently as he could. Keith reacted fast, trying desperately to get free of Shiro's grasp. "No!" Keith shrieked. His body, weakened from starvation and disuse, was no match for Shiro's superior strength, however, and Shiro kept him restrained even as he thrashed wildly. His behavior was starting to scare Shiro, and evidently, the rest of the paladins as well, because they came bursting into the room. 

They seemed to catch onto the situation, as Shiro turned to them helplessly. Keith's eyes suddenly fluttered open, widening at the sight in front of him. "Shiro!" he gasped, and stopped retaliating. Just as soon as they'd come back to life, Keith's eyes reentered the glazed daze they had been in before he fell asleep, leaving everyone to look around wildly at each other. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really, really short, I'm sorry. Not really sure where I'm going with this, I didn't expect to get any hits. I guess I'll just base it off irl experiences, unless any of you think otherwise?

**Author's Note:**

> This is very shitty, I wrote it in 30 min, I need to destress.


End file.
